Aug 22, 2012 -- 7:56AM, laurenfrances wrote:

Yankees' Andy Pettitte is targeting September for return from disabled list and won't rule out return in 2013

Veteran left-hander has re-kindled fire to compete, he says, and injury has prevented him from getting it out of his system this season.

By Mark Feinsand / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 12:12 AM

CHICAGO — Andy Pettitte is aiming for a September return from his fractured left leg and, despite the setback, the lefthander isn’t ruling out another run with the Yankees next season.

Pettitte said he hasn’t started to think about his plans for 2013, but after making only nine starts during his comeback before suffering his injury, the veteran didn’t sound like a satisfied man.

“It seemed like things don’t work out like you envision them in life,” Pettitte said. “I figured coming in here I’d pitch this year and fully exhaust myself of whatever I had left in me as far as for baseball or whatever. And as of this moment right now, I want to pitch more right now than I did when I first came to the big leagues.”

Pettitte was 3-3 with a 3.22 ERA in those nine starts before a line drive fractured his left ankle, sending him to the disabled list for the past two months.

“I got a chance to come back and started feeling really, really good my first few starts before I got hurt; it felt like I was back as far as finding my arm slot and getting my velocity up a little bit,” Pettitte said. “You don’t expect to break a leg whenever you come back. You think your elbow might give you some trouble or you might pull a groin or a hamstring.

“I’m extremely happy with my decision to come back; it’s been great being back, I love every minute of it except obviously being on the DL and not being able to help this team as far as walking out on the mound and pitching. We’ve just got a great group of guys and I love being around all these guys. That was a huge reason I came back.”

That camaraderie might pull the 40-year-old Pettitte back for a full season in 2013, though he won’t reveal any plans for his future until later in the winter.

“I’ll have to think about it as soon as the season is over and try to figure that out,” Pettitte said. “I’m too focused right now on figuring out how to get healthy for this season and how to help this team.

“I’ll go home again and talk to my family about it and pray about it and really I’ll do what I feel like is the right thing to do. I really can’t tell you right now that there’s no way I’m going to play.”

As for Pettitte’s immediate goal, he has been encouraged by his work on the field this week. He has been playing catch on flat ground with his spikes on, simulating his delivery and pushing off his injured foot at about 50%-60% strength without any pain.

“It’s a positive step,” said Pettitte, who has been completely pain-free for about five days. “These are steps I’ve got to take, I’m sure, for doc to tell me I can get on a mound.”

Pettitte said his last X-ray “looked really good,” leading him to believe that his ankle is “pretty much healed.”

Pettitte may not be ready to pitch in time for a minor-league rehab assignment, as the Yankees’ affiliates end their seasons by Sept. 3. He might have to settle for simulated games, but he’s prepared to do what it takes to get back before the postseason.

“Whatever it is, I feel like it will be good for me,” Pettitte said.

“I’m not trying to take the importance away from that but I just feel like I know what I have to do to get ready.

“Whatever we have to do, whether it’s throw to our guys in a simulated game that will be sufficient enough for me. I believe that.”

As unsatisfying as the comeback has been, he knows that can all change with a big run in October. That’s what keeps him going through his current rehab program, as he focuses an eye on the big picture at all times.

“Coming back here was to try to help us win another championship, and I still have an opportunity to do that,” Pettitte said.

“The light at the end of the tunnel for me with all this is to try to get healthy, get back, get myself prepared so I can help us get to the postseason. We’ve got a lot of work to do still.”

Read more: www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yank...

Now where the heck have you been young lady? I started a thread the other day questioning your dissapearence. Good to see you back